I just bought a new (to me) 98 land cruiser. 208k miles, in great condition, no rust and double locked from factory, clean title and all receipts from when it was new. has some mods like kings suspension and some cosmetic stuff like bumpers, but nothing crazy. it looked good overall except for a few issues, I noticed a clunk underneath when going from park to drive, or reverse to drive, and also when stopping (stop signed light ect) and going again, I knew it probably wasn't transmission related because it shifts really smooth up and down. after some research I guessed that its just the driveshaft needing some Grease. looks like its a common problem. the other issue was whenever I went over a bump at freeway speeds, the front would kind of wobble back and forth like a boat. thought either steering rack, or maybe these kings are just really soft? haha. got it inspected, they're saying the wheel bearings are slightly loose and the lower ball joints need done, they also said that the clunking is not the driveshaft and is coming from the transfer case (yay). they won't touch the transfer case, however they quoted me 850 for the other things. that's not too horrible, but id hate to go ahead and do this and have it be other things causing these issues. anybody out there wanna give me their 2nd opinion? does it sound like these issues line up with the work they're quoting me?
new lc100 clunky and wobbly (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Maccuscharlie
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Search he clunk threads here.
Often times it is either the CV, th flange, the drive shafts, the diff bushings, the rear control arms. That’s just to start. People have eliminated problems with one of a combo of these, and also not, with a combo of one or another. I wouldn’t trust a non cruiser shop to even remotely get close to being able to ID this po on. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone mention t case issues with the clunk, could be wrong.
Rocking could be a number of things. Is it lifted? Anything other than kings? If lifted, have you looked into panhard bar? Ball joints can cause issues as wel. Worn springs.
Lower ball joints is another one that ca be fixed with 80 bucks and a few hours.
Welcome to the joys of baselining a new cruiser.
jLB
Another one followed me home. Can we keep it?
Clunk: I’d check CV axle/drive flange play, and front diff bushings.
Wobble: I’d check ball joints, wheel bearings, tie rod ends, steering rack bushings, control arm bushings, and steering rack.
(When we started refurbishing our old 99 LX, at the beginning of the coronapocalypse, just about every rubber bushing needed replacement)
Wobble: I’d check ball joints, wheel bearings, tie rod ends, steering rack bushings, control arm bushings, and steering rack.
(When we started refurbishing our old 99 LX, at the beginning of the coronapocalypse, just about every rubber bushing needed replacement)
Wobble: I'd measure droop. I find 60mm +/- 5mm works best to achieve highest front lift while maintaining reasonable driving characteristics. So that said, your torsion bars may just be cranked a bit too much.
- Thread starter
- #5
Thanks for the reply’s. Shop said they greased the drive shaft, however the clunks still here, they claim it’s the transfer case. Every time I come to a stop and go again. And ever time I go from park/drive/ reverse. CV’s are all new, and it definitely feels like it’s coming from under and in the center. Would it even make sense for this to be the transfer case? There’s no clunk when shifting into low and no clunks when shifting gears, that’s what makes me thinks it’s the famous drive shaft needing greased. Maybe I’ll grab some grease and load it up myself and see what happens. Any other thoughts?
jLB
Another one followed me home. Can we keep it?
On the new CV axles:
New or rebuilt?
Factory or aftermarket?
New drive flanges were installed at the same time?
You had them installed, or previous owner?
Usually, the “clunk” is coming from slack in the driveline, or where the driveline is connected to the chassis. Somebody is going to have to poke there head under the vehicle and track down the slack. As I believe I stated in my earlier post, you should be looking at the CV axle/drive flange interface(s), u-joints, yokes, all of the old rubber bits under there (front diff, control arms, engine mounts, etc).
There are a number of possible sources, and it very likely could be more than one causing your issue on a 24 year old vehicle with 200k+ miles.
In my experience, the transfer case is often the first thing that gets blamed, but it is rarely the problem.
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Check your front diff bushings for the clunk, that's what did it for me
- Thread starter
- #8
Update. Front diff bushings fixed a little but of the clunk, but it was still there. I ended up selling the cruiser but the new owner said he took it to a shop and they figured out the driveshaft was just installed backwards…clunk gone. Didn’t know this was possible but something to look out for.
